Lieutenant Now Runs Police Force

Just seven months into his tenure at the Tisbury police department,
Lieut. Theodore A. (Ted) Saulnier is the man in charge. After the
resignation of John McCarthy as police chief a week ago, the board of
selectmen instructed Lieutenant Saulnier to perform the duties of the
former chief.

Lieutenant Saulnier, 40, spoke with the Gazette Wednesday in the
chief's office at the station on the harbor in Tisbury.

He was born and raised in Waltham. After high school he went on to
study at Middlesex Community College and transferred to Northeastern
University. During his last semester in college, he was hired as a
patrolman for the Waltham police department. His interest in policing
comes to him naturally. "It sounds clichéd, but I like the
idea of helping people and being able to make an impact on the
community," said Mr. Saulnier.

He was graduated from Northeastern in 1983 and continued to work as
a police officer in a variety of assignments, from desk work to a
one-man cruiser. "I enjoyed all the new aspects of policing and
all the new things I was learning," said Mr. Saulnier of his
introduction to the force.

In 1985, he began to pursue a master's degree in criminal
justice, taking night classes at Anna Maria in Paxton and graduating in
1987. "I just wanted to further myself and get more information on
my job, my career and my profession," he said.

He studied to become a lawyer at Massachusetts School of Law at
Andover, and passed the bar exam three years later in 1992.

All the while, Lieutenant Saulnier continued his police work. In
1995, he was promoted to detective in the narcotics unit, a post he held
for two years until his promotion to sergeant in 1998.

Over the past two years, Mr. Saulnier began visiting the Island and
experienced all the seasons on the Vineyard.

Following the recommendations of the Wasserman report, a study of
the police department commissioned by the town, the Tisbury board of
selectmen sought last summer to hire a lieutenant.

When he saw the ad for the position, he pursued it. "I saw the
ad and I had been coming and visiting the Island and said, ‘Oh,
what an opportunity. I can actually work and live in a place I had been
visiting and enjoying so much,' " said Mr. Saulnier.
"I also thought it was an opportunity professionally to have more
of an impact on my community than I could in the big department and the
big city where I was."

The board of selectmen appointed Mr. Saulnier on August 27 and he
signed a three-year contract. The selectmen have told him they do not
plan to appoint him acting chief or hire a new chief at this point. The
board will decide in the next three to six months how to fill the former
chief's position.

Waltham is a city three miles west of Boston. "Interestingly
enough, I come to an Island that grows in population seasonally. Waltham
grew in population daily," said Mr. Saulnier with a laugh. The
city's night population of 60,000 grows to 120,000 during the day.
The Waltham department has 160 police officers.

Mr. Saulnier, with a stocky frame, sat at the table inside the
office and spoke easily about his introduction into the department.
Often a smile appeared below his light brown mustache.

"I remained outside of [the controversy]," said Mr.
Saulnier. "I had a meeting with the patrol staff. I told them
whatever happened in the past, happened prior to my coming here. I was
focused on the future and looking at the police department and seeing
what I could do to positively impact it."

Lieutenant Saulnier is confident he can bring a positive influence
to policing in the town. "Waltham is a progressive police
department and it has some tremendous attributes," he said.
"I knew I could take my experience there and apply it here and
make this a terrific department."

The Waltham police department was the first in the state to be
nationally accredited and one of the first to be state accredited.
Accreditation creates a standard of policing and creates a department
that applies those standards in its day-to-day operations.

Lieutenant Saulnier said he has experience in bringing financial aid
to a police department. "I wrote a whole lot of grants at the
Waltham police department and helped get a lot of programs off the
ground, for instance a cadet program, and helped units along by the
grant process."

When asked about his police philosophy, he answered, "My basic
philosophy is community policing. We cannot do the police job without
the community's support and help. The whole community should feel
free to contact us with any issues relating to the quality of life
throughout the town so that we can take a look at it and address some of
these issues and improve the quality of life."

Mr. Saulnier will meet regularly with the police advisory board
- a board created by the selectmen based on a recommendation in
the Wasserman report. "I think the police advisory committee is
terrific. My only wish is that it could be larger to include everyone in
the community," he said, smiling. "It is great to have
representatives from the community there and to have a diverse group to
tell us and direct us on what we need to do and what the community has
in mind for the police department.

"It has been my goal to take the department and bring it where
it needs to go. I have a vision for this police department where it can
be five or 10 years down the road," said Mr. Saulnier. "With
or without the Wasserman report - from my standpoint, having
arrived after the fact that some of these things reportedly went on
- I think I can really impact the police department in being what
it should be down the road."

Lieutenant Saulnier said he is working to create a constructive
relationship with the officers. "We have a whole bunch of cops
here who are more than capable. We have some really talented
people," he said. "Given some leeway, given some
empowerments, allow them to go out and act the way they know they should
act, lots of things around here will be different."

Mr. Saulnier said he wants to be a sounding board and provide a
voice of experience for the officers.

One issue that concerns the police officers is staffing. Mr.
Saulnier, who draws up the schedule for the 10 officers, is planning to
make a recommendation about the staffing level in the next four to five
weeks. "I want to see how things go along. I have yet to make a
conclusory judgment on what the needs are," he said.

When Lieutenant Saulnier has free time, he will be out surf casting
for stripers and blues, one of the things that attracted him to the
Island in the first place. He also enjoys tinkering with old cars and
proudly owns a 1967 Buick Skylark convertible.

Heading into his eighth month with the police force, Mr. Saulnier
said he is fitting in more as time goes on. "I think there was
some apprehension about who I was, what I was all about," he said.
"I think if you ask the patrolmen now, you'll find they do
respect me and enjoy coming to work as much as can be expected. They are
very receptive in going in the direction which I have expressed, in the
way I like to see the department go. I think the morale is very
good."

Lieutenant Saulnier views his newness to the Island and the police
department as something that can benefit the force.

"I am in a new environment altogether," he said.
"In certain respects I am the fresh look at things, and in other
respects I have to learn from ground zero what the problem really is. I
found my newness has helped, and my newness has caused me to work a
little harder. All in all, I think my newness has been a positive
influence."

Asked how he is adjusting from the city to Island life, Mr. Saulnier
said, "I like it. I like the small town life and lifestyle. The
fact that everyone knows your business doesn't bother me. It makes
my job a lot easier. That is what community policing is all about,
living life as a community not as a bunch of anonymous people. I love
the change."

Lieutenant Saulnier wants to reach out to the town and open up a
direct relationship. "For any kind of a problem, someone can come
right in here, the door is open. I would gladly sit and meet with anyone
and address any problem," he said. "I just want to help the
people in the community and the Island overall."